“Forgiveness and Unforgiveness

(Matthew 18:21-35)

Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

March 1, 2020

The Passage

Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.

23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. 25 Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

26 “At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything’ 27 Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

28 “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

29 “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31 When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

Introductory Comments:

There are a lot of extreme things in the world. 

The tallest building in the world is 2,717 feet tall. That’s an extremely tall building! (Burj Khalifa in Dubai) [show picture on screen]

The most children born to one woman was 69. That’s an extremely large brood of children! (Valentina Vassilyev) [show picture on screen]

The largest church in the world has 830,000 members. That’s an extremely large amount of church members! (Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea) [show picture on screen]

The longest hair in the world was to a woman whose hair was over 18 feet long. That’s some extremely long hair! (Xie Qiuping) [show picture on screen]

The fastest car in the world can go 304 miles per hour. That’s an extremely fast car! (Bugatti Chiron Super Sport) [show picture on screen]

The largest swimming pool in the world is 3,324 feet long and holds 19.77 acres of water. That’s an extremely large pool! (San Alfonso del Mar resort) [show picture on screen]

If something is extreme it means that it is to a large degree or a large amount of something. 

In today’s passage, Jesus is going to give us some extremes. He’s going to teach us some truths that are off the scale in terms of the impact it has on our faith and in our lives. 

Before we look at these extremes, let’s pray together and ask God to bless us for His glory. 

(prayer)

Last week we learned that Jesus wants us to pursue our fellow Christians who may be wandering in their faith. Further, we learned that Jesus lays out a model for how we could call another Christian to repentance. If you missed last week, go to our website or jump on our podcast to check it out later today. These two passages go together as one package. 

Today, Peter follows up that discussion with a question regarding the repentance of our brother and sister in Christ. If we are to call our fellow Christians to repentance, particularly if they have offended us, how many times must we forgive them?

Let’s learn these extreme truths that Jesus